Radio Frequency vs. Hot Air Welding

In reference to how the machine works:

The Miller Model 112 Extreme is a complete heat sealing/welding system for the straight seam welding of billboard and sign panels. The two vinyl panels are positioned on the bed of the machine and held in place with our exclusive vacuum track holding system. Once the fabric is positioned and held down with vacuum, the traveling welding head is driven down the track producing the heat sealed seam. A laser line is built into the machine for alignment of printed images.

Further, if it is required that the machine needs to be stopped mid weld, a stop control the length of the machine is always and easily accessible. During the seaming process, it is not necessary for the operator to touch the fabric being overlap welded. Thus, greatly reducing the chance for operator error.

The advantages hot air and hot wedge over RF:

Speed, speed, speed. Our Miller Machines are significantly faster in welding times. Our technology simply is a more efficient technology. However, we DO NOT compromise seam strength, seam appearance or integrity. We have customers constructing people-carrying blimps, white water rafts, airplane rescue escape shoots and various military applications. As such, our seams HAVE to hold up. The fabric will tear before the weld will fail. Our customers have been depending on our machines for over 40 years.

Furthermore, the molecular bonded seam is welded from the inside not over the two outside layers. Thus, significantly improving the seam appearance over RF. Another important advantage a Miller Weldmaster hot air welder has over RF is the lack of stray RF energy. There are NO distance limitations from other surrounding electronics like your printers or office equipment. Most printer and other machine manufactures will dictate that their printers need to be at least 15 meters away from any radio Frequency Device.

Further, with an array of different fabrics other than PVC available on the market, a manufacturer needs to be able to weld all thermo plastic materials. As an example, environmental friendly fabrics made of polyolefin (polypropylene and polyethylene) that can be printed on. However, these types of thermoplastic fabrics can only be welded with hot air or hot wedge. RF energy can only weld PVC and Poly Urethane.

Most importantly, our hot air and hot wedge seaming machines are very versatile. One can easily make a 3 dimension product with a hot air machine. A very difficult task in a two dimensional welding format such as RF. Moreover, our ability to provide any guide for almost any type of seam enables our technology the capability to make almost your whole product with just one welder.

Finally, our machines are significantly less expensive to maintain than RF machines. Our welders are designed and built for the average maintenance person at the average facility to repair. With over 3,000 machines installed worldwide in many industries and in 100 countries, hot air and hot wedge welding provide a distinct advantage over radio frequency welding.